Identification of a novel alphavirus related to the encephalitis complexes circulating in southern Brazil

In early 2017, an outbreak caused by an unknown and supposedly viral agent in the Marilena region of southern Brazil was investigated. Since the etiological agent causing the outbreak was not identified from human samples, mosquitoes from this region were collected. Three out of 121 mosquito pools c...

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Main Authors: Marcel Kruchelski Tschá, Andreia Akemi Suzukawa, Tiago Gräf, Laercio Dante Stein Piancini, Allan Martins da Silva, Helisson Faoro, Irina Nastassja Riediger, Lia Carolina Medeiros, Pryscilla Fanini Wowk, Camila Zanluca, Claudia Nunes Duarte dos Santos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2019-01-01
Series:Emerging Microbes and Infections
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2019.1632152
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Summary:In early 2017, an outbreak caused by an unknown and supposedly viral agent in the Marilena region of southern Brazil was investigated. Since the etiological agent causing the outbreak was not identified from human samples, mosquitoes from this region were collected. Three out of 121 mosquito pools collected from the region tested positive for alphavirus in molecular tests. Next generation sequencing results revealed the presence of a novel alphavirus, tentatively named here as Caainguá virus (CAAV). DNA barcoding analyses indicated that different species of Culex are hosts for CAAV. This new virus was basal to the New World encephalitic alphaviruses in a comprehensive and robust phylogenetic approach using complete genomes. Viral particles were observed in the cytosol and inside of intracellular compartments of cells in mosquito-derived cell cultures. Despite being noninfectious in vertebrate derived cell cultures, primary culturing of CAAV in human mononuclear cells suggests monocytes and lymphocytes as CAAV targets. However, the epidemiological link of CAAV on the human outbreak should be further explored.
ISSN:2222-1751